Meet the Diamondbacks' Impressive minor league Coaching Staff

Let's get started with the Diamondbacks impressive crop of minor league coaches. Each slide will have an individual team on it. Let's get started with the Hillsboro Hops!

Recently, the Arizona Diamondbacks' High-A minor league team, the Hillsboro Hops, announced their coaching staff for the upcoming 2022 MILB season. It's an exciting for the Hops, based out of Oregon, as they have started to really prove themselves as a solid minor league franchise.

The Hops last year developed many of the Diamondbacks' top prospects, including Matt Tabor, Bryce Jarvis, Buddy Kennedy, Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt, Drey Jameson, and Luis Frias. Buddy Kennedy was a star in the Arizona Fall League while the rest of those names all grew a ton in their baseball development.

Returning as manager of the Hops is Vince Harrison. He is in his 2nd season with Hillsboro. The first was widely successful due to those players developing. It's his 7th year coaching in the Dbacks organization and had a 5 year playing career in the minors.

Jeff Bajenaru is the team's pitching coach. He's entering his 12th year with Arizona's coaching staff. The last two years, he has spent with the Aces. Twice, Jeff was named Coach of the Year in the organization, 2017/18. He played in 3 seasons in the MLB, all with the Chicago White Sox where he won the 2005 World Series.

The hitting coach for the Hops is K.C. Judge. This will be his 3rd year with the organization and 2nd with the Hops. Judge is a noted swing master and swing scientist. He's written about the spine and how to manipulate it to improve your swing. Additionally, he created a t-shirt that he sold on YouTube about launch angles.

Ronald Ramirez is the Hops' coach. He's basically the bench coach. He'll be responsible for all the little things. This will be his 5th year on the Dbacks MILB coaching staff but his first year with the Hops. Jake Waldron and David Robertson are the trainer/strength & conditioning coaches respectively. It's their first season with the Hops. Last year, they worked at the Salt River Fields complex for the Arizona League team.

The Coaches of Visalia Rawhide

A new manager is in Visalia as Jorge Cortes leads the team in his 1st year stationed with the Rawhide. This will be Cortes' 6th year working as a coach for the Dbacks. Last year he was the bench coach for the Reno Aces which are the Triple-AAA team. Jorge played in the minor leagues for parts of 3 years in the early-2000's.

At pitching coach is Gabriel Hernandez. Gabriel is spending his first year coaching with the Rawhide. Last year, he was a part-time pitching instructor at the Arizona Complex league. Prior to that , he was a scout for two years with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Rawhide's hitting coach is Ty Wright. Ty is entering his first year coaching with the Rawhide. Prior to this, he had spent the previous 12 years with the Cubs organization. The first 7 of which came as a minor league player. The next 5 all came as a coach. The highest level he reached was Triple-AAA. Welcome to the desert Ty!

Now, the person you have been waiting to read about. His first time as bench coach for the Rawhide or any team is Cody Ransom. Cody Ransom has spent the previous 2 years with the Diamondbacks Arizona Complex league team. However, you probably know Ransom from his previous years playing in the MLB, including for the Diamondbacks.

The born and raised Phoenix native that attended Grand Canyon University played with Arizona from 2011-12. During his time in the desert, he hit 6 HRs, 20 RBIs, 9 2Bs, and .234, .328, .477 while playing as a utility infielder. Over his entire 12-year MLB career (17-year pro career after being drafted in 98'), the 46-year-old played with the Giants, Astros, Yankees, Phillies, Brewers, Padres, and Cubs besides the Dbacks. He won a World Series Ring with the Yankees in 2009.

Haruki Mukohchi is the team's trainer. Ryan Harrel is the team's strength and conditioning coach.

The Amarillo Sod Poodles Double-AA coaching staff

The Amarillo Sod Poodles are entering their 2nd year as the Double-AA affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They didn't do great last year, but they really helped our prospects grow as players. It's no secret that many of our prospects ended up in Double-AA or advanced to Reno like Alek Thomas.

Entering his 2nd straight year as manager of the Sod Poodles is Shawn Roof. It's his 7th year in the Dbacks organization. He's a 2-time minor league manager of the year and is only 37 years old. In his managerial career, he's 234-174. Those are pretty good numbers.

Shawn is a former minor league player himself. He played 6 years in the minors with the Detroit Tigers, reaching Double-AA before retiring in 2012.

The Sod Poodles' pitching coach is Shane Loux. This will be Loux's 6th year in the Diamondbacks system. However, this will be his first year out at Amarillo. Last year, he was the pitching coach for the Hillsboro Hops. He was given a large amount of credit for helping pitchers Matt Tabor, Bryce Jarvis, Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt, Drey Jameson, and Luis Frias excel last year. Now, the majority of those pitchers will be in Double-AA where he can continue to work with them.

Shane is a former MLB pitcher with the Giants. He won the 2012 World Series with the Giants. Additionally, he's from Gilbert. Keep up the good work Shane!

Travis Denker is Amarillo's hitting coach. This is his 2nd year with Amarillo after helping hitters like Buddy Kennedy and Alek Thomas grow a ton last year. Denker has been with the Diamondbacks organization for 4 years and this will be his 5th. He's a former Diamondbacks' minor league player as well.

Javier Colina is the team's coach. it's his 9th year in the organization. In 2019, he led Hillsboro Hops to the High-A championship. Logan Jones is the team's strength and conditioning coach. Damon Reed is the team's trainer.